Piston-rod packing.



G. P. MOMULLEN PISTON ROD PACKING. APPLICATION FILED 11111.23, 1911.

1,006,1 14, Patented Oct. 17, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inmgi l/V l E IV TOR ATTORNEYS G. P. MGMULLBN.

PISTON ROD PACKING. APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1911.

1,006, 1 14, Patented Oct. 17 1911.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES 4TTOR/VEYS 5 5 Q /MALES P/J zZ ZZZE/V, 6 2; BY

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P. MOMULLEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PISTON-ROD PACKING,

" Toall whom it may concern:

in and lu bricating piston rods and other ro s and shafts, and the object thereof is to provide an improved construction of this class particularly desig'ned for use in connection with the piston rod of the steam cylinderand air cylinders of an air brake ap paratus-used in connection with a locomotive and a steam driven air pump; a further object being to provide a construction of this class that can be easily installed for packing piston rods of the class specified, and which will prevent the same from being cut or injured by dust, sand, cinders or any other substance that may collect thereon; a

-'further object being to provide improved means for lubricating packings of this class whereby grease, oil or other lubricating material such as black lead, flake graphite, or other granulated or finely divided lubricating substances, may be forced into the packing box so as to maintain the same, together with the packing therein thoroughly lubricated at all times; and with these and other objects in view the invention consists in a packing box and packing constructed and operated as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which showing a part of the steam cylinder and a part of the air cylinder of an air brake apparatus used in, connection with a locomotive and showing my improved packing box and packing in section; Fig. 2 a transverse.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 17 1911, Application filed January 23, 1911. 7 Serial No. 604,069.

cylinder, and at b the steam cylinder of an air brake apparatus such as is usually employed in connection with locomotives and railway trains, and the cylinders a and b are shown as rigidly connected by rods 0 which, in practice, may be formed in connection with the heads a and b of said cylinders, or may be secured thereto in the usual or any desired manner. I havealso shown at (Z the piston rod which reciprocates in the cylinders a and b, and this rod is provided at its opposite ends with pistons movable-in-said cylinders, said pistons being not shown, In the practice of my-invention, Ip'rovide two packing box members e and f which are secured the heads-a and Y) of the cylin:

ders at and b and through which the rod cl passes, and, in practice, these packing box members are screwed into the heads of the cylinders and are preferably provided with annular shoulders P which abut against said heads, and the projectingends 1 thereof are threaded throughout their lengths and mounted thereon are set nuts f". I also provide a packing box or case 9 divided centrally and longitudinally into two separate similar parts 9 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and saidparts g are provided at theiropposite :sides with projecting vflanges g throughwhich are passed bolts or screws g, whereby said parts are connected, and said packing box or case is mounted centrally on the rod (1 between the packing box members a and f, and the adjacent ends of said pack ing box members fit in annular recesses h formed in the ends of the box or case 9, 1

sunk when in operation, as clearly shown in Fig.1;

- Formed .in the packing b'ox members e and f and in the opposite end portions of the packing box oricase g. are annular. packing chambers 41, the end wallsi? of whichin the packing box members'ifcare beveled butwardly, and the end walls i fof'which'in the packing box or case g, are beveled inwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and placed in the outer end portions of the packing chambers i are metallic packing rings 7, which, in the construction shown, are provided on their outer sides with projections j beveled to correspond with the beveled walls 2' at the outer ends of the packing chambers i, and said packing .chambens'bee tween the rings j and the inner ends thereof are filled in with annular packing rings 7' preferably composed of fibrous material saturated with a preservative compound, whereby said packing rings j are retained in operative condition at all times. My invention, however, is not limited to the exact construction of the packing rings 7' or the material thereof, but I prefer that said packings or packing rings be made of fibrous material and that they be saturated with a preservative and lubricating substance.

The central part of the. packing box or case 9 is provided with an inwardly set annular portion 7a in which is formed an annular lubricating chamber K2 and, in practice, I connect with one side of said box or case, a lubricating cylinder m having a detachable cap m through which passes a rod m with the inner end of which is connected a piston m The outer end of the rod m is rovided with a handle rin or similar devlce m and the inner wall 0 the cylinder m is threaded as shown at m and the piston m is correspondingly threaded, and by turning the rod m piston m may be forced inwardly into said cylinder or moved outwardly according to the direction in which said rod is turned. The cylinder at is connected with the box or case 9 by means of a pipe 11, having an elbow MP, and

formed in one side portion of the box or case 9 is a bore or passage n which communicates with the annular chamber 10 and in the form of construction shown, a supplemental bore or passage n leads from the bore or passage n to the face of that part of the box or case with which the cylinder m is connected, and the adjacent faces of the parts g of the box or case 9 are provided with longitudinal passages 11, having inwardly directed members n which communicate with the packing chambers 2, and by means of. this construction; lubricating material placed in the cylinder m may be forced into the-annular chamber h in the 'packing'box or case 9, andinto the packing chambers i, as will be readily understood. My invention, however, is not limited to the exact method of connecting the lubricating cylinder m with the boxor ca'se g, nor to the exact formation of the bores or passages n, n and W", as herein shown and described,

and various modifications of these features of .the construction may be made as will be readily understood,

The central part of the box or case is slightly larger than the rod (Z whereby an annular space ais'formed'betweensaid central part of the box or case and said rod, and through which lubricating material forced into the annular chamber is free to pass into the packing chambers 2', and between the packing members 6 and f and said rod d are similar annular spaces 0 and 0 through which air and steam may pass into the packing chambers 2' and operate on the packing rings 7' as hereinafter described. With this construction, when the rod (1 moves in the direction of the arrow in steam 70 0 and operates on the adjacent packing ring j in the corresponding packing chamber 2' and the packing rings or material j in said chamber are compressed, as will be readily understood, and this operation causes a continuous expansion and contraction of said packing rings or material in said chambers, and said packing rings or material being saturated with lubricating material at all times, are kept in proper operative condition,

and a thorough and effective packing of the rod 03 is thus produced.

By means of the construction herein described, the said nuts 7 being adjustable into different positions on the packing box members e, it will be understood that the box or case 9 may be made of different lengths and may thus be adapted for use in connection with apparatus of this class in which the distance between the cylinders a and b varies, and while I have shown and 1 described my improvement as applied articularly to air brake apparatus, it wil be understood that the use of my invention is not limited to the use of this form of appafl ratus, and my improvement may also be applied to the packing and lubrication of piston rods and other shafts used in connection 1. with other forms of construction, and may also be applied to rotary shafts, if desired. With this construction I can also force into 1 the annular chamber 72 and the packing chambers z, a packing material such as finely divided fiber, granulated or finely divided graphite or other substances, which substances would be saturated with oil or grease, and in this way the packing rings or material 1' may be reinforced at any time and the packing chambers 2' may thus be filled to their capacity with packing material under pressure at all times without disturbing or disconnecting any of the parts of the apparatus.

One of the packing rings 7' is shown in Fig. 3 and these packing rings are divided or consist of two separate parts to facilitate the assembling thereof together with the other parts of the apparatus on the rod cl, and the packing rings or members 7' may also be similarly formed.

It will also be seen that with the construcacking rings or material i 75 or class of lubricating material may be employed, and while I have shown and described the preferred form of my improvement, it will be understood that changes therein and modifications thereof may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages, and in Fig. 4 I have shown my improvement applied to the cylinders of a well known form of air brake apparatus involving a steam driven air pump and complete stuffing boxes connected with each of the cylinders, the air pump being not shown. In this form of construction, the cylinders a and b are each provided with a stufiing boxv consisting of parts p screwed into the heads of the cylinders, gland members 12 screwed onto the parts 2, and followers 32 mounted in the gland members 79 and these packing boxes, in the form of construction shown, are provided with fibrous packings p and a floating ring 71 andbetween the parts ;0 and the rod or shaft d are annular spaces 0 as in the construction shown inFig. 1.

When my improvement is applied as shown in Fig. 4, the box or-case g, only half of which is shown in said figure, is so formed, at itsopposite ends, to receive the adjacent ,end portions of the stufling boxes connected with the cylinders a and b, and in this form of construction the box or case 9 is provided centrally with the annular chamber h? and the lubricating cylinder m in communication with said annular chamber, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the box or casev g is 'also provided in its opposite end portions with the packings 7' as in Fig. 1. It will be understood that the floating packing rings p, in this form of construction, are constructed the same as and operate the same as the packing rings 7' shown Figs. 1 and 3, but the packing rings p may or may not be composed of separate parts, and when said packing rings are composed of separate parts, said parts may be connected by dowel pins 1' which .are passed through holes 1' in the separate parts of said rings, said holes being shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4.

With the form of construction shown in Fig. 4, my invention is not limited to the particular style or construction of the packingboxes connected with the cylindersa and b, and said packing boxes may be-of any desired, or of the usual construction, the

object of this figure and the description thereof being to illustrate and describe the f method of applying my improved packing box and pac mg to forms of construction already in use, in which the cylinders a and b are provided with complete packing boxes through which the rod or shaft d passes, and while I have shown and described a particular form of packing, including the floating rings j, and the packing rings or material 7' composed of fiber or similar material, it will be understood that my invention is not limited to this particular form and construction of packing rings or packing material.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- 1'. The combination with an apparatus involving two cylinders axially connected and having a piston rod or shaft movable through the adjacent ends thereof, of a packing apparatus detachably mounted on and entirely inclosing said piston rod or shaft between said cylinders, said packing apparatus consisting of packing box members connected with the heads of said cylinders and a packing box divided longitudinally into two separate similar parts, and the end portions of which inclose said packing box members.

2. The combination with an apparatus involving two cylinders axially connected and having a piston rod or shaft movable through the adjacent ends thereof, of a packing apparatus detachably mounted on and entirely inclosing said 'piston rod or shaft between said cylinders, said packing apparatus consisting of packing box members connected with the heads of said cylinders and apacking box divided longitudinally into two separate similar parts, and the end portions of which inclose said packing box members, said packing box and packing box members being provided with packing chambers in which are placed packing material, and

said packing box being provided with a ccnbers, and a piston shaft movable through both of said packing box members and said heads, of a packing device detachably mounted on and entirely inclosing said piston rod between said packing box members and also partially inclosing said packing box members, said packing device involving a casing divided centrally and long1tud1- nally into two similar parts whereby said packing device may be placed in position or removed without disconnecting said cylinders or otherwise interfering with the apparatus of which said cylinders form a part.

4. The combination with an apparatus of the class described, involving two cylinders mounted axially and the adjacent heads of which are rigidly connected, said heads being also provided with packing box members, and a piston shaft movable through both ofsaid packing box members and said heads, of a packing device detachably vmounted on and entirely inclosing said piston rod between said packing box members and also partially inclosing said packing box members, said packing device lnvolving a casing divided centrally and longitudinally which said cylinders form a part, said casing being provided centrally thereof with an annular chamber and at each side thereof with packing chambers in communication therewith, and means for forcing material into said annular chamber and said packing chambers. r

5. The combination with an apparatus of the class described, involving two cylinders mounted axially and the adjacent heads of which are rigidly connected, said heads being also provided with packing box members, and a piston shaft movable through both of said packing box members and said heads, of a packing device detachably mounted on and entirely in'closing said piston rod between said packing box members and also partially inclosing said packing box members, said packing device involving a casing divided centrally and longitudinally into two similar parts whereby sa1d packing device may be placed in position or removed without disconnecting said cylinders or otherwise interfering with the apparatus of which said cylinders form a part, said casmg be1ng provided centrally thereof with an annular chamber and at each side thereof with packing chambers in communication therewith, and means for forcing material into said annular chamber and sa1d packing chambers, said packing chambers being in communication with corresponding packing chambers in said packing box members.

6. The combination with an apparatus of the class described, involving two cylinders mounted axially and the adjacent heads of which are rigidly connected, said heads being also provided with packing box members, and a piston shaft movable through both of said packing box members and said heads, of a packing device detachably without disconnecting said cylinders or otherwise interfering with the apparatus of which said cylinders form a part, said casing being provided centrally thereof with an.

annular chamber and at each side thereof with packing chambers in communication therewith, and means for forcin material into said -annular chamber and sa1d packing chambers, said packing chambers being in communication with corresponding packing chambers in said packing box members, and said packing box members being provided with set nuts which operate in connection with the opposite ends of said casing.

7. The combination with an apparatus of the class described, said apparatus involving two cylinders mounted axially, and the adjacent heads of which are rigidly connected, said heads being also provided with packing box members, and a piston shaft movable through both of said packing box members and said heads, of a packin device detachably mounted on and entire y inclosing said rod between said packing box members, said device involving a casing divided centrally and longitudinally into two similar parts whereby said packing device may be placed into position or removed without disconnecting said cylinders or otherwise interfering with the apparatus of which said cylinders form a part." v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have si ed my name in presence of the subscribmg witnesses this 21st day of January 1911.

Witnesses:

C. E. MULREANY, E. G. BROMLEY.

CHARLES, P. MoMULLEN. s 

